WhatsApp Scam: Consultant Believes He is Helping His Aunt and Loses Rs 20,000

A 55-year-old consultant from Roche-Brunes fell victim to an online scam via WhatsApp after believing he was responding to a plea for help from his aunt.

The incident occurred on Friday, January 23, 2026, around 8:08 PM. While at home, the consultant received a WhatsApp message from a contact listed as his aunt, who lives in Curepipe. The message, written in polite English, mentioned a temporary issue with a bank account and requested a transfer of Rs 20,000, assuring him of repayment the following day.

The message read: "Namaste, I need a favour from you please… I’m having a little problem with my MCB account." Believing he was communicating with a family member, the consultant made an online banking transfer at 9:00 PM from his MCB savings account to an SBM account in the name of Guinness Wennaelle Stephanie. He used the reference "family support" for the transaction, which was confirmed shortly after.

At 9:02 PM, he received a thank you message on WhatsApp: "much appreciated." However, sensing something was off, he asked his aunt to call him. The message went unanswered.

The next day, Saturday, January 24, around 8:00 PM, he finally managed to reach his aunt by phone. She confirmed that she had never asked for financial assistance and informed him that several of her contacts had received similar messages, indicating that her WhatsApp account had been compromised.

His aunt explained that the day before, she had received a call from a foreign number starting with +234, during which an individual speaking English attempted to obtain the six-digit verification code for her WhatsApp account. She stated that she did not share this code, but her digital identity may have been compromised.

Concerned, the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) was contacted on Saturday via their hotline. The complainant then visited the Beau-Bassin branch to file an official report. A procedure has been initiated to attempt to recover the amount transferred from SBM.

A police investigation has been opened to clarify the matter.